IUML MLA takes oath in Kannada in Kerala Assembly

Like many of his predecessors, the newly elected MLA from Manjeshwar in Kasargod, M C Kamaruddin, also took oath in Kannada in the Kerala Legislative Assembly on Monday.

It has been a tradition of the MLAs from Manjeshwar to take the oath in Kannada considering the sizable number of Kannada speaking people in the constituency, which is close to Karanataka, said Kamaruddin who represents the Indian Union Muslim League.

The first time MLA, who took the oath in the name of God, also said that his development agenda included welfare to the linguistic minorities of Manjeshwar, which included Tulu and Urdu. Manjeshwar is referred to as the land of seven languages, Malayalam, Kannada, Tulu, Konkani, Marathi, Urdu and Beary.

Kamaruddin said that though taking oath in Kannada would please the Kannada speaking people of his constituency, others speaking the language might not feel bad about it as people of Manjeshwar generally loves all languages.

Many MLAs from Manjeshwar, including former Minister Cherkulam Abdullah, had taken oath in Kerala Assembly in Kannada while MLAs from Devikulam in Idukki, close to Tamilnadu, used to take oath in Tamil in the Kerala Assembly.

Apart from Kamaruddin, four other first time MLAs also took oath on Monday. It included two from CPM and two from Congress.